mergers and acquisitions news stories on Newser

FTC Inquiry May Delay Facebook's Instagram Deal

Kevin Spak — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:42:05 CDT

Facebook and Instagram aren't likely to finish tying the knot by the second quarter as they'd originally intended, because the Federal Trade Commission has launched a competition probe into the deal. Investigators are already collecting information from competitors like Google and Twitter, sources tell the Financial Times . Competition probes are...

Washington Post Buys Digg Techies ... but Not Digg

Kevin Spak — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:27:07 CDT

The Washington Post may have just dug Digg's grave. Yesterday The Next Web shocked much of the tech world with a report that the Post was buying the once-hot social media site, but it now looks like that's only partially true. TechCrunch later reported that the Post was actually only...

Coke in Talks to Buy Monster

Matt Cantor — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:50:11 CDT

Coca-Cola is considering a monster purchase to get a bigger foothold in the world of energy drinks. The largest soft-drink company on the planet is in talks to buy Monster Beverage in what would be its biggest brand acquisition: Monster has a market capitalization of $11 billion, and the company...

CNN Looks Likely to Buy Mashable

Matt Cantor — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:12:54 CDT

CNN is deep into talks to purchase social media news site Mashable, insiders tell the New York Times , which confirms an earlier Reuters report. It would be CNN's biggest-ever buy, costing well beyond the estimated $20 million purchase of app maker Zite last autumn. The news is thrilling South by...

Investors Snapping Up Daily Papers

Rob Quinn — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:23:04 CST

Despite plunging revenue and circulation figures, plenty of people in America are still buying daily newspapers—lock, stock, and valuable headquarters. Some 71 daily papers were sold last year, and while some investors see buying a paper as a civic duty, others view it as a way to turn a...

AT&T: Forget T-Mobile Merger

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:33:05 CST

AT&T Inc. said today that it is ending its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA after facing fierce government objections. The cell phone giant said that the actions of the US government to block the deal do not change the challenges of the wireless phone industry, which it says...

Yahoo Attracts Many Suitors, Weak Offers

Mark Russell — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:16:00 CST

The good news: There are plenty of suitors shopping for the 19.9% minority stake Yahoo is peddling. The bad news: Everybody's looking for a deal. A Microsoft-linked private equity group has put in a bid that values the onetime behemoth at $20.6 billion, reports the Guardian —less than...

AT&T, T-Mobile Withdraw Merger Bid (for Now)

Matt Cantor — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:43:01 CST

AT&T and T-Mobile have unexpectedly withdrawn their merger application from FCC consideration. While the move hints at trouble for the $39 billion deal, the companies say they’re not giving up, Politico reports. Instead, they’ll focus on getting approval from the Justice Department—either by winning an antitrust lawsuit against the...

eBay Snaps Up Hunch for $80M

Kevin Spak — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:56:11 CST

eBay made a splash today by acquiring Hunch , a recommendations startup that launched in 2009, the companies announced . The official statement didn’t list a price, but Michael Arrington’s Uncrunched , which first reported the deal, said it would be "somewhere around $80 million." Hunch founder Chris Dixon will take over eBay’s...